


Cats and Dogs

by PetraJade



Series: Feral Hearts [1]
Category: Supernatural
Genre: Alternate Universe - Shapeshifters, Animal Shifters, Brotherly Love, Dean raising Sam, Elemental Shifters, Fatherly Bobby, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-04-14
Updated: 2014-04-14
Packaged: 2018-01-19 09:36:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,059
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1464505
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PetraJade/pseuds/PetraJade
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A look into the life of Sam and Dean Winchester as they grew up; from their parents' deaths to Sam's first Shift to their first kill together as a team. But, hey, that's the family business right?</p>
            </blockquote>





	Cats and Dogs

**Author's Note:**

> Introductory piece to my oncoming story: Feral Hearts. I hope you enjoy this domestic look into a more wild story.  
> Banner by me

 

During Sam’s first year of life, Dean was on a bus headed to Bobby’s. The four year old was clutching his baby brother tightly, glaring at anyone who tried to come near the pair. Most people thought it strange that such a young child was clinging to a sleeping babe, but the look he was giving people was enough to scare most sane folks off. Dean was different from other four year olds, his eyes flashed and shifted dangerously and most people gave him a wide berth as he waddled from bus stop to bus stop, holding his brother tightly. Some tried to help him, but the boy would not be helped. Dean could read lines and he knew which bus route would take him close to Bobby’s house, and he didn’t need _anyone’s_ help. The woman who asked if she could see his brother, the police man who asked him if he was lost, the elderly couple who offered him a hard candy; Dean glared and growled at each one of them. Dean had his orders, and he was not going to just disobey them because he was _hungry_ or _scared_ or _tired_. Not while his little brother was still in his arms and he still had a half a day’s trip to Uncle Bobby’s.

_Go, Dean. Take Sammy to Bobby._

Those were his last orders, and Dean would follow them until he got a new order from an adult he knew and trusted. And it had only been a day since he started on this bus route, using his mother’s bus pass to jump from bus to bus. Someone might have questioned it if children like Dean didn’t get on the bus alone every day. There were many orphans across the nation, all of them riding buses to relatives’ houses or to the homes the local charities set up, but none were as strange as Dean. Dean was twitching, jumping at every noise and flinching whenever someone spoke to him. Most thought he was a victim of abuse, but those who knew what to look for were careful to give him an extra-wide berth. Nothing good ever came from stressing out a near-Rabid.

\--

On Sam’s second and third birthdays, Bobby sent Dean to get the cake or cookies or whatever kind of sweet thing they could afford that year for celebration. Dean was more under control now, having Bobby as a mentor was wonderful, but sometimes he would still slip and a vicious _hiss_ would tear from his mouth shortly before something nearby lighting on fire. He never meant to _hurt_ anyone, it just sort of happened when his temper flared or he was scared. He had a reputation for being a livewire around the town where Bobby lived, so most people avoided scaring or stressing him. Dean was an unusual case, but he was not dangerous so long as people did not threaten or frighten him. Most adults were mildly impressed at the little boy who could light a magazine stand on fire just by glaring at it, but others were more afraid than anything else; Dean had few friends he could play with besides Sammy. Bobby tried his best to help the boy, but his protective instinct over his brother prevented Dean from meeting new people, or when he did, Sammy would start crying and Dean would be the first to exit the room and run to his brother’s side.

Bobby wasn’t the best of fathers, Grizzlies were never known for their daddy-skills, but he hadn’t been in touch with his animal for years, and his human side was eager to be a father to the two boys who washed up on his doorstep looking hungry and scared. Good thing Sam was weaned though, since Bobby didn’t know any nursing mothers in town and certainly wasn’t going to start lactating himself, so Sam was introduced to solids relatively quickly. But it was Dean’s appetite that was frightening those first two years. The boy had devoured anything meat-like in his sight and never seemed to be full. Bobby had been worried he was going to eat himself to death, but Dean calmed down a few months before Sam’s year and a half mark. Now Dean was eating normally, vegetable arguments and all, and Bobby was relieved. It was hard enough keeping food in the house for an infant and himself, let alone a six year old walking disposal.

\--

By the time Sam’s sixth birthday had rolled around, Dean was fully in control of his temper and animal. The ten year old was legions ahead of the other kids his age, who wouldn’t confront their animals until they were at least thirteen, and that seemed to drive a rift between him and the kids at school. But at least he wasn’t lighting backpacks and text books on fire anymore because he was teased. No, now he just tackled the kid and punched his head in (something Bobby was secretly proud of, but he’d never vocalize that in front of a _teacher_ ). Sam was learning how to read and write, and sometimes Dean teased him for his bad handwriting, which induced wrestling matches between the two. Bobby never intervened on either brother’s behalf unless someone broke something or blood started flowing; the boys mostly worked out their differences themselves. And even if Dean had an unfair advantage with his animal fully on board and eager to fight, Sam was faster than his brother and often got away before any real wrestling could begin.

On the actual _day_ of Sam’s sixth birthday, Bobby had allowed both the boys to stay up extra late and watch old horror flicks with him. But when the witch on the screen was burned to death, and both boys flinched visibly, Bobby prepped himself for the inevitable question.

“Uncle Bobby, where’s our mom and dad?”

Bobby still stiffened, and felt Dean bristle under his arm. The ten year old was still stiff as a board when Bobby sighed and answered the curious little boy. “They died in a house fire when you were a baby.” He answered, as truthfully as the child would understand.

“And Dean brought me here, right?”

“Yep. ‘Cause yer Momma told him too.”

Dean was still stiff under his arm but Bobby could feel the boy shaking and he put his arm around the boy, trying to calm the boy down.

“So they left us alone? That’s mean.” The six year old claimed and almost instantly Dean was on his feet.

“What would you know, you little brat?!” Dean shouted and Bobby could see his eyes Rabidly shifting between their normal _human_ green and the green of an _animal_. Dean was trying to control his temper, but his balled fists were a clear sign he was losing. “Mom did everything she could to save us! She had no choice!” He screamed and Bobby watched as the fireplace by Sam suddenly sparking to life with a blinding flash and flames roared from it, burning the carpet, bricks and metal by it. The flames very nearly struck Sam if Dean had not heard his baby brother’s scream of alarm and almost instantly the flames were back under control and crackling contentedly on the logs Bobby always kept in the hearth. Dean visibly slumped and sat by his brother, looking over the child’s arms and sides for signs of burns before he stood and walked out of the house. Sam looked ready to follow and apologize, but Bobby distracted him with an offer to help clean the dishes.

Sammy had always liked helping around the house.

\--

It was half a month after Sam’s eighth birthday when he saw his first Rabid. It had invaded the scrapyard one evening while everyone was asleep. Sam had been awake, reading a book like he usually did for at least an hour after Dean had gone to sleep. He was leaning against the window, his legs sprawled over his twelve year old brother, half-listening to the older boy’s snoring. It was one of the only nights Bobby had not taken Dean out to train, something Sam was not allowed to join in on yet. The book he had was long and boring, according to Dean, but Sam didn’t have much of a library at Bobby’s and he and Dean were still banned from the library because of Dean’s temper. The attacks had been occurring much more infrequently, but when they did, Dean very nearly burned buildings to ash. This was the second time Sam had read this book, so he was not fully paying attention to the words on the page when he heard a soft crashing noise from the scrapyard out back.

The noise was not unfamiliar, the sound of metal hitting the gravel, but not this late at night and there was certainly no wind to have knocked anything off the piles of wrecks Bobby kept around for spare parts. At first Sam thought it was just another metal object falling from its perch, until another one occurred shortly afterward. Almost instantly Sam turned to look out the window and his eyes widened. A lumbering shadow was skulking around the scrapyard, its gait was uneven as if at least one of its legs was numb. Sam could not make out the animal, but its growling-groaning noises made him duck his head as its yellow gaze flashed in the light. Reflective eyes, that narrowed it down some, as did it being on four legs, but Sam was not one to find out what exactly it was. It shambled around, bumping into things as if it was blind or drunk, and Sam smelled something _awful_ on the air as it got closer. The light caught its face again and Sam caught sight of drool flooding from its mouth, though he could have sworn he saw blood mixed with the thick liquid. His heart stopped and ducked under the window. The thing had ignored _both_ Bobby and Dean’s territory markers. He turned around and crawled up to shake Dean’s shoulder. His brother groaned and tried to move away from the movement but Sam was insistent.

He continued shaking his brother, getting more desperate as another metal object hit the ground outside. “Dean.....Dean...... _DEAN_.” He whispered desperately in his brother’s ear.

“ _What_.” His brother hissed and Sam continued shaking him.

“There’s something _coming_.” Sam whispered.

“Nightmare, Sam, go back to sleep.” Dean insisted. Sam continued shaking him.

“It’s not a nightmare, Dean, it’s _outside in the scrapyard_.” Sam hissed in Dean’s ear and he felt his brother sit up Rabidly, nearly knocking Sam against the wall as Dean scrambled to look out the window. It was no more than a moment until Sam knew Dean had spotted the invader in their back yard. Sam heard his brother curse under his breath and jumped from the bed. He tumbled to the floor and grabbed the gun under his pillow before rushing to the door. Sam got up to follow him when Dean suddenly turned to him and pointed at the younger.

“Not you. Stay.” Dean said and Sam pouted.

“But Dean...I wanna help defend our house too!”

“ _No._ This isn’t shooting cans or squirrels out back. It’s a _Rabid_ , Sammy.”

“I can handle it!”

“ _I said **no**_.” Dean growled at him and shut the door behind him, the soft clicking of a lock making Sam cross his arms and slump against the window.

\--

When Sam was ten, he saw Dean’s animal for the first time. Sam had always known his brother had Shifted early, but Dean had taken extra care not to Shift around his brother, which Sam did not entirely understand. But he had not been able to sleep that night and had heard Bobby and Dean leave the house to go practice Shifting and fighting out in the scrapyard. Bobby had promised to let Sam run and train in the scrapyard too when his animal surfaced, but Sam could not help the stab of jealousy he felt over Dean being able to stay up extra late to train his animal. If Dean had been a normal child, this would have been his first year as a Shifter and there would be tests the following year when Dean was fifteen to determine if he was able to sustain being a Feral. But Dean was not a normal child, this was his tenth year as a Shifter and fourth year as a Feral. He was in control of his element, in most cases anyway, as well as his animal. Random fires hadn’t occurred in the house the last few times he and Sam had fought, in fact Sam could not remember a fire occurring because of Dean in the last year. He knew it was because Dean had put extra effort in learning control after his temper flared at Sam’s sixth birthday, but Sam was still slightly jealous.

That was the reason he had crawled out of his and Dean’s bed (Bobby said he would be getting a spare mattress for Dean when Sam turned thirteen because Shifters were notoriously territorial the first year) and headed down the stairs and out the back door to the scrapyard. He just wanted to see Dean use his element or his animal, then he would go to bed. Dean had never told him what kind of animal he was, but Sam was not stupid. Dean used fire, so it was an animal from a hot environment. His brother did not have wings or scales (as far as Sam knew, they hadn’t bathed together since Sam was three), so he was not a bird or reptile. As far as Sam had known, Dean did not have any discernable markings on him to give any indication of an animal with pattern, but Bobby had once told him that sometimes Shifters just never carried over any markings, so Sam was at a loss. But he had a theory, and he wanted to see if he was wrong or right. He crept across the gravel as quietly as he could, holding his arms to his chest as both a defensive stance as well because it was colder outside than he had expected. He stopped behind a pile of beaten up old cars and listened, leaning against the rusted metal. He heard Bobby’s gruff voice giving some directions, but exact words were sketchy at best. Sam sighed and stuck his head up through the broken window to see if he could see Bobby or Dean.

He was so focused on catching glimpses of Bobby’s hat that he jumped and screamed when a huge thump above him signaled he was no longer alone. Falling back on his back, Sam scrambled a few feet away as the large figure leapt down in front of him, a low growl coming from its svelte form. It stepped silently towards him, slightly crouched like it was going to pounce. Sam felt his heart stop as he took in the bright green eyes that reflected the moon as the clouds cleared. Yellow-crème fur shone against the pale light, making the creature look whiter than it would in the sunlight. Four legs stepped lazily as the thing circled around Sam. Its teeth were showing a sign of displeasure and warning, gluing Sam to his spot as the large beast circled closer. Deep brown spots looked almost black in the coloring of the night as Sam ended up eye-level with the beast sitting in front of him. Dozens of lengthy whiskers stuck out from all over around its mouth as Sam tentatively raised his hand towards the creature. He was taking a risk, this might not even _be_ his brother, but an invading Shifter, but he still lifted his hand.

The moment he could feel the heat coming from the beast, it pressed forward and touched his hand to its head, feeling the smooth fur that was there. Sam let out a breath and sat up more, lifting his other hand to touch his brother’s neck. The fur was soft, a little coarse, but mostly smooth as he stroked it. In response the creature flopped lazily on to its side, groaning and laying its head in Sam’s lap, who instantly began to stroke its cheek and under its small rounded ears. A happy groan resounded from the animal and Sam felt himself smile. He heard Bobby approaching, calling Dean’s name and the beast in his lap merely grunted a half-hearted open-mouthed moan in response, making Bobby round the corner. The older man rolled his eyes at the sight of a ten year old cradling a head the size of his lap. Shifters were notoriously larger than the normal animal size, and Dean was no different. He was nearly twice the size of a normal African Leopard, and could have easily crushed Sam without any effort. But there he was, head perched on the child’s lap, groaning happily when he was scratched behind the ears. Bobby sighed and sat down near them, declaring the training for that night off.

Sam was invited to view Dean’s nightly trainings from then on. He sometimes asked Bobby questions about Shifting and what it felt like, but Bobby could not answer everything. Most of the time though, Sam was running through the scrapyard, leaving false trails and distracting scent marks to try and throw off Dean when he was practicing tracking and hunting (hunting _what_ , Bobby never explained). But one evening, Sam and Bobby were watching Dean scratch markers into the borders around the scrap yard when Sam asked Bobby a new question.

“Is Dean full grown? I mean the leopard.”

Bobby took a drink of his beer before answering. “Yep.”

“Will I be fully grown when I shift?”

“Shouldn’t. No. When you shifter yer animal will be roughly the same age as you, so about half grown.”

Sam tilted his head to the side and looked at Bobby pointedly. “Dean Shifted when he was four, right?”

“Far as I know.”

“So he Shifted to a kitten?”

Bobby sighed and shook his head, looking a little sad. “No. Yer brother Shifted from a four year old kid to a full grown leopard. Probably why he was so twitchy when he got here. Poor kid almost went Rabid because of the pain and stress.”

“But that’s not supposed to happen.”

“Yer right. It’s not. No kid should have to grow up that fast.”

\--

It wasn’t until twelve years into life that Sam finally got a straight answer out of his brother concerning their mother. The sixteen year old had been working on a car in the yard when Sam approached him, not entirely prepared to confront his older brother, but at least he was carrying a beer for his brother. Dean was more likely to answer questions when Sam bribed him, which had occurred many times in the past. Sam bribed answers about Shifting, how it felt being an animal and how Dean felt when he used his Fire. Dean was simple with his answers, and often got irritated when Sam’s endless curiosity would demand more detail. Dean did not do detail, he was a simple person but he could not refuse his little brother anything. He answered Sam as much as he could.

He walked over to wear Dean was working on a large black car’s engine and tapped his brother’s shoulder. A faint ‘ _hm_ ’ signaled to Sam that his brother was listening and he thumped the brown glass bottle against Dean’s side. Dean looked over at his brother and looked at the bottle, sighing softly and leaned back, his back cracking slightly and took the bottle from Sam’s hand. He sat on the work table he had set up and Sam hopped up next to him.

“What’s up?” Dean asked and Sam looked up at his brother.

“What makes you think I want to talk?” He asked and Dean rolled his eyes.

“Let’s see. You brought me a beer in the middle of the day while I’m working and you never do that unless you want to ask me a question you know I’ll never answer normally.” He said, popping the top off of the beer and taking a drink.

Sam sighed. “Well, I do have a question, but you’re not gonna like it.” He admitted and Dean shrugged.

“Just ask, Sammy.”

“What _really_ happened to Mom and Dad?”

Dean froze and for a moment Sam was worried he had offended his brother and was about to get up and leave when Dean loosened his body and sighed.

“Yeah, okay. I guess I should tell you.” Dean stood again, moving away from the table to shut the hood of the car he had been working on. Choosing instead to perch on the vehicle, Sam now sat across from him, eyes betraying his eager curiosity concerning his parents. It took several minutes for Dean to start speaking, but Sam did not push him, Dean always took a few moments to gather his thoughts when he was answering the harder questions Sam had for him. Sam had started impatiently tapping his fingers on his legs, beginning to believe that Dean had decided against sharing, when his brother finally spoke.

“Just remember that none of this was your fault, okay, Sammy?” He started and Sam nodded with a confused but agreeable look. Dean sighed again and took another swig of the beer before resuming his speech. “You were a baby at the time, so you probably don’t remember what happened, but everything to me is as clear as if it happened yesterday. It was about...six months or so after you were born. Dad had been working late again, something he did a lot, and mom was already pretty stressed. You were sick with something, a cold I think, so you were crying all the time and mom had just _barely_ finished my dinner when dad stumbled in drunk off his ass. Mom _flipped_. She just started shouting at him and he shouted back. I don’t remember much outside of the fact they were just _yelling_. You started just screaming then and Dad only got louder. And then everything just started getting hotter and hotter in the house and things started lighting on fire. Dad was sweating and his eyes were flashing and suddenly he was just _gone_ and this _massive_ lion was in his place. But it didn’t look normal, its eyes were all the wrong color and it was foaming at the mouth and it charged at mom.”

“Dad was a Feral?”

Dean shook his head. “Bobby says that he was a Shifter but never a Feral before that night. But his transformation was all wrong and he ended up going Rabid, something a person can never come back from. Mom managed to get out of the way in time, but she hit her arm on the counter and there was blood _everywhere_. I was watching from the living room and when that... _thing_ saw me it charged right for me, all claws and teeth and flames. I couldn’t move and you just kept screaming from upstairs. I guess that’s what broke me out of my frozen state because the next thing I remember is being inside your nursery, trying to keep you quiet. But I guess it smelled us, because it tore through the door. You started crying again, and I ended up in a corner. I was pretty sure we were going to die but then this massive, and I mean _massive_ , swan just suddenly juggernauts into the lion, sending it flying through the wall into Mom and Dad’s room. The swan’s wing was busted up pretty badly, but the way she looked at us, I _knew_ it was mom.”

“Mom was a Shifter?”

“Better.” Dean said with a chuckle. “Mom was a full-blown Feral. She never told _anyone_ but she was that strong. When that lion charged again, Mom flapped her wing and sent a wave of air at it, sending it flying back again before she moved us to her back and flew us out into the yard. Well, flew is the wrong word, since her wing was basically useless, but we made it out safely. The house was burning completely by now and the lion was coming at us again so Mom charged up to meet it. She fought for a long time, and _son of a bitch_ it was one of the scariest things I’ve ever seen, but you know as well as I do what happens when an herbivore goes up against a carnivore. The last thing I remember is mom telling me ‘ _Go, Dean. Take Sammy to Bobby’_ but I couldn’t move. Not when that lion was stalking closer and closer to mom. She was bleeding pretty badly, most of her feathers were red with the stuff and I guess I just flipped. Cause I knew that lion would come for us next.”

“So you Shifted?”

“I exploded. I don’t remember anything except this _searing_ pain shooting through my body and my insides were burning up. What I _do_ remember is that when I came too, my vision was shaky at best and I was exhausted. The lion was nowhere to be found and our house was basically a pile of cinders. You were crying again and I must have grabbed you and just started walking, because honestly I don’t remember the trip to Bobby’s that well. I just remember waking up in our room with you sleeping next to me. When I asked Bobby what happened, he showed me the article about our house fire and how the two people were determined to have been killed, one was a female swan-shifter, who bled out and died of her injuries.”

“Mom.”

Dean nodded. “The other was burned to a mostly unrecognizable state, but it was male lion-shifter and the evidence stated that he had started the fire and gone Rabid. But the flames that had killed him were not his own. Because his injuries were ‘ _sustained by another large animal that had yet to be identified at this time_ ’.”

“So... _you_ killed dad?”

“Looks that way. But the evidence was sketchy at best and no one would believe that a four year old could Shift into a full grown animal, have enough control over his element to burn his enemy alive _and_ still be sane. So the case was dismissed as a Rabid-attack gone wrong and we were given to Bobby as stated in Mom’s will.” Dean took another long swig from the bottle and fell silent. Sam felt his brows press together as he digested the information.

“It was my crying that set dad off.” He finally said and he felt Dean fix him with one of the hard stares that almost always made Sam cringe and submit.

“No. It was _not_ your fault. Dad was drunk off his ass and volatile. It was bound to end badly either way.” Dean growled, downing the last of the beer and wiping his mouth and pushing off the hood of the vehicle. He handed Sam the empty bottle and lifted the smaller brother from the work bench and put him on the ground before opening the hood again. Sam stayed a little longer, silently watching Dean work on the various car parts of the engine before he turned and walked back inside, just as wordlessly. He had been prepared to feel guilty or sadness, but mostly he felt numb and disconnected. But he looked back at his brother, working on the car with as much devotion as he worked on anything he loved or was passionate about, and Sam felt the corner of his mouth twitch ever-so-slightly. If anything, he looked up to Dean even more now than he had before.

\--

Sam was fourteen when he and his animal finally synchronized. Being a late bloomer had scared him for a while, he had been scared he would end up as a Domestic and never be able to Shift, so he had been overjoyed when he had woken up with terrible pains all over his body and Bobby told him he would likely be fully Shifted by the time evening came. First Shifts were always painful and slow, the body rearranging itself to make way for the ability to reform into an entirely different skeleton at a moment’s notice. Shifting would feel awkward and wrong for the first year, Dean had told him that much, but it eventually became easier until it was a flawless transformation. Dean was able to transform in the middle of the kitchen without setting anything on fire, but Sam knew he would not be so lucky. First Shiftings were always messy and clumsy at best, so Sam was not all that surprised when Dean came in and carrying him down to the basement. Dean tried to make it as painless as possible, but each step sent pain through Sam and the boy was grateful when he was finally laid on a mattress in a bunker-like room in Bobby’s basement Sam knew had been used on Dean for the first few months he Shifted. He felt feverish and lurched violently when a wave of pain echoed through his body as he felt his skeleton rearrange again, his arms suddenly contorting in a messy fashion. Sam could feel blood slowly leaking from the places bone had broken skin in its attempt to make room for the new form, but overall that was the least scary thing that happened.

The most frightening was perhaps the overwhelming urge to _fight_. Dean had not warned him of this, a desire to hunt, track, fight, _and kill_. He was sure he did not want to kill a person, but he wanted to kill _something_. He wanted to hunt and run and get out of this tiny iron room so he was far away from these pathetic _two-legged_ ones, but he could not move with the crippling pain as well as the fact his arms and legs were now distorted beyond use. Another lurch caused his chest to contort, and he felt his facial bones crack and something new pressed in from behind it. He was either crying or blood was coming from his eyes, but the pain was more numbing that anything, and he didn’t scream. Perhaps he had not properly interrogated Dean and Bobby about this process, but that was clearly too little and too late as he felt a wave of spasms take over his body and more bone pushed out from behind his facial muscles. His vision was swimming now and he knew that shortly after his entire body locked up, he would black out. Perhaps that was the most exciting part, he would soon black out and when his eyesight returned, he would be an animal like his family. He briefly wondered what kind of animal he’d be and what element he would be connected too, though he felt fairly certain it would be the Earth. Most Shifters were connected to the Earth element, since it was the most abundant of the elements. Only birds had the air, only animals in cold environments or sea-dwelling creatures had water, and only animals who lived in hot areas had fire. Everyone else was stuck with earth.

Not that it was a bad thing, Sam mused, trying to keep his mind off the blinding pain behind his eyes. Dean _had_ told him about this, about how until he got used to it, he would have terrible headaches and throbbing pains behind his eyes for a good year after he Shifted. He shut his eyes, one of the few things he could still move successfully, and felt his body contort and more bones brake only to have new bones take their place, which was both painful and incredibly _bizarre_ to feel. He did not reopen his eyes, and the last thing he full remembered was the feeling of hair growing all over his limbs. It tickled and tingled, sending a strange mix of sensation to his already overloaded brain. Finally decided to stop focusing on mentally analyzing everything that was happening, he stopped fighting the fog swimming in the black behind his eyelids. The numb feeling took over his entire body and he left feeling like he was floating away from his body. Days may have passed, or merely minutes, Sam could not tell. He was not asleep, nor fully awake, he was just floating in the black.

When he finally came back to his body, it felt _wrong_. It did not feel like a proper body and when Sam connected to his senses, he was suddenly overwhelmed by the scents and sounds and just _everything_. He opened his eyes slowly and quickly shut them, the light was _too bright_. He attempted to groan, but the noise came out as a low whine and Sam stopped for a moment. Deciding to stop moving and analyze, Sam decided to start by twitching each of his limbs so he could count them. _One. Two. Three. Four. Okay, I have four legs....five?_ Sam felt another limb twitch and he focused on it for a bit. He forced himself to move it to check for a range of motion, but it mostly went side to side and up and down. _Not a leg, then. Tail._ He had a tail, like Dean. But this tail felt stiffer than he imagined Dean’s would feel, since Dean wrapped his around his waist when he was in human form. He focused on his face then, opening his eyes again. Everything was in super focus, to the point that Sam could see the tiny shift of the lamp cord as the fan in the room made the air move ever-so-slightly. But there was no green or red to his vision, limiting his colors to black, yellow, blue and white. It was odd and the light in the room was still bright, but he could bare it now. A small scrapping above him had two objects on his head twitching up to catch the sound, meaning Sam had ears on the top of his head. And from the way they swiveled to catch the noises around him and feed his brain data, they were large and capable of a great range of motion.

Sam moved his head up again, breathing in as he did so, and nearly being thrown backwards when all the _scents_ hit him. The smell of the iron and the mattress and the wood from the desk and the blood that came from him and _just everything_ was so strong that he let off another whine. He pulled himself up fully, wobbling to one side as he did, trying to find his center of gravity on the mattress and he looked down to inspect his new legs. Dark brown fur, longer than Sam had seen on any Shifter so far, covered his legs and paws. His paws were large, light brown in color and black claws stuck out from them. So, he was not a feline, since he could not retract his claws. He was slightly disappointed, he wanted to be like Dean, but he felt like he could run faster than he ever had. And he could already tell his sense of smell was the most powerful feature he had. But he also felt stronger and faster. Suddenly he was itching to _run_ and tried to call out to Dean or Bobby, the sound coming out as a low and loud bark. Well, if that did not confirm Sam’s species, he did not know what would. Sam was a dog.

\--

Shifting became much easier after that, and it was not long until Sam running alongside his brother during Bobby’s training exercises. Even though Sam was a good size and a half bigger than a normal dog of his breed, which he found out later was a Leonberger, he was still smaller than Dean’s animal form. But he was faster and had more stamina, meaning he was often the first one to find the hidden object Bobby sent them after. But where Sam was fast and smart, Dean was strong and could jump and climb far better than the younger brother. So they fell into a rhythm as Bobby started asking other Shifters and Ferals he knew to come make the scavenger hunts more exciting. As soon as the signal was made, Dean would lazily trot out into the open, sniffing and hunting while Sam waited his turn, keeping his nose to the air as well. As soon as Sam caught whiff of an enemy, he’d bark to Dean and the hunt was on. Sam would take off like a shot across the yard and Dean would stay as close as he could, using his power and strength to hold off the enemies as Sam got the object they sought.

Other times Bobby would pit the boys against other Ferals in a fighting sense. It took a while to find a rhythm in that, since Dean’s animal usually worked alone and Sam’s was eager to do _everything_ , but eventually they fell into a pattern. Dean would take most of the hits as well as deliver most of the weakening blows, and Sam would dart about, getting in deep bites and gnashes in around the back legs and belly until the other surrendered. Sam thought it was fun to work with his brother. That was, until one of their training sessions turned real. Another Rabid had wandered into their yard, this time it was more like _charged in_ as the beast was a horse this time, and suddenly Sam found himself facing what Bobby had been training them for. He was frozen in place again until Dean leaped from behind a pile of cars and on to the Rabid’s back, sending it flying on to its side in a flailing action that gave Sam time enough to turn around and charge right back at it, aiming his jaws at the Rabid’s back left leg. Biting down as hard as he could made the beast neigh with alarm, kicking Sam off so hard he hit a car pile with a surprised bark.

Dean was up again, as was the Rabid, and he was instantly between the crazy-eyed quadruped and his brother. An orange glow started from his mouth before flames were pouring from his feline jaws towards the charging horse. The Rabid suddenly shifted tactics then, stomping its hooves to make thick pillars of earth stick straight up that blocked the flames, but it gave Sam the cover he needed to take off again running towards the Rabid, ducking under its legs to bite down on the more meaty parts, making the animal flounder and falter again, giving Dean enough time to use one of the rocky spikes to launch himself on to the Rabid’s back again, this time biting down harshly on its neck. Blood poured from the various wounds it had enduring from the brothers, but it was still kicking and managed to catch Dean in the chest, sending the large cat flying as Sam had done. But Sam was still under the animal, bobbing and weaving between stomping legs to get in a bite or two on its legs and belly. Sam hoped the blood loss would catch up soon. Though knowing what he had read about Rabids and heard from Dean and Bobby, it would not be slowing down anytime soon.

Another wall of flames hit the charging beast from behind and it cried out in pain as the flames devoured its tail and roasted its back legs, making it next to impossible for the beast to move. It wobbled uselessly and Sam had barely enough time to get out of the way before it fell over, floundering its legs wildly and scraping its burned skin against the ground. Sam briefly wondered if they even _felt_ pain, but from the way it kept on move around, despite the blood and flesh covering the ground, it seemed unlikely. The stench of burnt hair and skin reached Sam’s nose as the adrenaline faded and he nearly gagged. It was _awful_. He felt a nudging from behind him and turned his head to look at Dean whose eyes were asking if he was seriously injured. Aside from his side and back throbbing from where he was kicked and probably a cut from wear he hit the metal, he was fine. Still standing on all four and he wasn’t bleeding profusely, so he shook his head at the large feline. It nodded and lazily strode past him, limping slightly. Dean would have a rather large bruise the next day, and Sam would be able to assess the damage easier from there.

He watched Dean walk over to the struggling animal and the orange glow returned to the inside of his jaw, brightening until it was a pale yellow. The flames poured from his mouth and on to the animal, roasting it fully and Sam whimpered at the sound of the creature suffering. He leaned against his spotted brother and buried his face in Dean’s fur, drowning out the scent of the burning flesh and the screams of the animal before it finally fell silent. Dean shuffled away from Sam and slowly shifted back, groaning and his spine cracking. Sam looked away out of respect for his brother, though he was rather used to the nudity that came with returning from animal form. He considered shifting back himself, but decided against it when Bobby came into view. Not many words were spoken between them, mostly the same silent gestures that they all used when in animal form. Bobby caught site of the burned Rabid and sighed, shaking his head. Sam suddenly knew that there was something more too all the things Bobby had been teaching them. All the times spent tracking down buried meat or fighting off other Shifters as well as full blown Ferals, everything Bobby had been teaching them was for a _reason_. And finally, the sixteen year old understood as his twenty year old brother looked down at him expectantly.

Bobby had been training them to _hunt and kill Rabids_.


End file.
